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Hello Dear Reader,
This Sunday, I will be with Tracy Wilson on Radio Cornwall sharing ideas about cutting the cost of transport. Like food, rent or the mortgage, we can not get away without paying a huge chunk of our incomes transport. Obviously, the most expensive and most convenient is to own our own cars. If that's our choice, then we have to tax, insure and maintain them as well as paying for wear and tear. I'll start with the ways I save money on my car tonight and then move onto as many other forms of transport as I possibly can over the next five nights.
If you have any money saving ideas about getting from A-B frugally then email them into [email protected] and we'll share them with listeners on Sunday. I will of course put the listen again link on Frugal Queen after the radio programme has been transmitted.
Frugal Car Ownership
Cheap Petrol - Really? Well hear me out. I buy 33 litres of fuel a week - every chuffin' week!
Find the cheapest fuel - I buy my diesel in Plymouth for £1.35 a litre, instead of £1.39 locally and save £68.42 a year.
I pay for my fuel with my cashback credit card (I PAY IT OFF BY DIRECT DEBIT IN FULL EVERY MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!) and get 3% back on my fuel purchases and get £72 back every year.
I use my Tesco clubcard and get 780 club card points a year - I treble them by using them for a meal out and turn £7.80 into £23.40.
By shopping around, using my cashback credit card and saving the 'points' - I get £163.82 back, which I consider to be a saving each year. I effectively get 3.6 weeks transport for free. It might not seem much but if you found £163.82 down the back of the sofa you would feel very rich.
Cheap Car insurance - It is possible to cut hundreds from the cost of car insurance by shopping around. to start, I use all of the price comparison websites until I find the best deal. I want the least excess and the most cover for my money. If I whittle it down to two or three deals then I closely scrutinise the small print, which one offers free car hire if my car is undrivable? Which one offers free legal services with the price?
Next, I get a quote and store the quote number as it will be valid for a period of time.
Finally, I purchase through a cash back website such as Topcashback or in my case, Quidco - I usually get £50 back.
This year, the lowest quote I could find was £177 and got £50 back so my car insurance was £127, fully comprehensive, £100 excess and free legal cover/car hire if needed.
Cheap Car Servicing - We use fixed price servicing and shop around. We try and find one with free car hire for the day, or a collection and delivery service in with the price. We get the car valeted in with the price and then ask for a discount if we return. Every year, we haggle a discount from a main dealer as they shut the local branch and we have to get the car serviced in Plymouth so we get a 10% discount on top. As we bought the car from new from the same dealer we haggle for the service we always used to get in the price that they no longer provide. So, we still get the free car hire for the day, the car is valeted and we get to drive a swish new car for the day.
Cheap Breakdown cover - How much cover do you really need? We decided to go for basic cover. If we break down, then the AA will tow us to the nearest garage. We rarely go very far and felt this met our needs adequately. We used the AA this time as their basic cover was £28 and we secured a £10.50 cashback via Topcashback (I'm signed up to all the cashback sites) which reduced my cover to £17.50 a year.
Cheap Tyres - Take advice and do your research. Our car is sporty and has low profile tyres. They cost a fortune! We don't use the main dealer discount tyre retailers such as Quickfit or ATS but our locally owner tyre shop. It does mean we have to queue up behind dumper trucks and tractors, it does mean we have to stand in the yard in the snow but we pay for what we get not a fancy waiting room with piped music. We don't economise and buy cheap tyres as we rely on them to save our lives on an icy road so we buy good tyres for less. We save about 25% on tyres, fortunately we don't do enough miles to have to buy new tyres every year.
Drive Economically -
- Watch your speed - keep at a steady speed and drive smoothly.
- Keep the car in good condition.
- Ensure you have the correct air pressure in tyres.
- Remove any excess weight - don't carry anything you don't need.
- Cut down on air con - it's Britain for heaven's sake not the equator!
- Plan long journeys and take food and drink
- Car pool or share the cost of the journey.
Finally, if you don't need a car - don't own one. Personally, I liken car owner ship to setting fire to a huge amount of money each month!
I will be back tomorrow, and the rest of the week giving you other money saving transportation ideas. If you have any money saving ideas for car use or any type of transport, then send them to [email protected] and we'll read them out on Sunday morning. If you would like to be on the programme and would like us to call you (UK only I'm afraid!!!) then send me an email and I'll take your details to the studio and we'll get you on air.
Until tomorrow,
Love Froogs xxxxxxxxxxxx
Some insurers, such as direct line, are not on comparison websites, so it might be worth asking them to beat your best deal. You got an amazing deal though, so although this might not work for you it might for one of your readers.
ReplyDeleteHi Froogs,
ReplyDeletehere in Australia I drive a 2007 Honda Jazz and only spend $60 per month on petrol! I drive to work every day as well as run my children around. I chose this car for it's fuel economy and it hasn't let me down.
As cheap as it is, I'm now saving for a bicycle. I live in a large university town (around 25000 people) so it's reasonably safe to cycle. I plan to cycle to work 3 days a week - for pleasure, for exercise, and of course to help the environment by reducing my use of fossil fuels. This will save me a bit of money on fuel as well as wear and tear on the car.
Have a great day,
Madeleine.
Froogs,
ReplyDeleteAgree about getting quotes when the (in the case with US policies) 6 month policy is up. Also try bundling home/tenant and auto policies for savings (at least here). I recently saved myself siginificant $ by switching my renter's policy to one thru my Union. Once the auto plan is up, I plan on getting quotes on that as well.
Is you car insurance deal for a year or a month? I pay $950 a year in the U.S.
ReplyDeletePer year
DeleteI live in Australia too and maintain a car for a few reasons:
ReplyDeleteI live in a very small rural country town that is 160kms away from the next town.
Carting big things to school and back (am teacher).http://www.frugalqueen.co.uk/logout?d=http://www.blogger.com/logout-redirect.g?blogID%3D1205500646966283515%26postID%3D6657881167904558222
But I love cycling to work when I can! Bought a mountain bike for this purpose :)
I bought a Suzuki Swift last year because it promised to be an economical car to drive and to service. Being in the small car category it is also cheaper to insure. I have no regrets. My previous car, a Mitsubishi Magna, was filled weekly. The Suzuki has a smaller tank and is filled fortnightly. It gives me 16 km/litre. I get that efficiency because I drive with care. My ambition is to own a solar powered car because you can't get cheaper than that. My other tips for saving on transport costs are walk when you can and plan your journeys to reduce the number of trips. Frugal and thoughtful travel reduces cost and lowers the carbon footprint which is the real long term benefit.
ReplyDeleteWe only have one car. We save fuel by combining our shopping trips with essential journeys, so we don't have to make a special trip to do our shopping.
ReplyDeleteAs one reader pointed out, once you have done your price comparisons, it is worth approaching your current insurer/breakdown cover etc to see if they can beat it. This applies to phone contracts etc too. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't but it's worth trying.
Living in a very rural area, we need the car, there are no suitable alternatives. Since the village garage closed, our nearest petrol station is 15 miles away. We fill up at Tesco or Morrisons and use their loyalty cards to collect points.
For car repairs, sometimes it's cheaper to order the parts online and take them to your garage to have the repairs done. Same with ordering tyres.
We have cut down a lot on our journeys. We used to love going out on Sunday with our picnic and flask but these days it's mainly essential journeys only. When we do go out for a 'day out' we combine it with the big shop on the way home.
I have heard that it's cheaper to run the car on a full tank and to keep it full but I've never checked it out. Also to fill up when the tank is cold?
We've been ordering parts (and a spare tyre) online for a while now on the advice of our local, friendly mechanic who then fits them for us at low cost. It's worked out much cheaper all round and we get the parts much quicker that way too.
Deleteafter my divorce I lived without a car for years and hardly missed it. Now I try to walk home twice a week because a 10 minute bus ride cost a whopping $4.80 or something crazy like that.
ReplyDeletex
There are street car schemes that allow you to hire a car for a few hours, includes all costs and you can pick them up and drop off at lots of parking spaces that are spread out, I know people who have used this as an alternitive to owning a car or a second car and say that its very good.
ReplyDeleteThere are also schemes being advertised that also you to find people to share longer car journeys with to split the costs, much less then the train or coach, although I don't know anyone whose used these.
As you say not owning a car is the best saving you can make, I find the occasional cab is still much cheaper then owning a car but I do crave the freedom to leave the city for the day and as trains and coaches are so expensive I end up stuck inside.
I'm saving for a moped at the moments because costs are so much less then for a car and it'll enable me to go for day trips and visit friends more often.
Hi Frogs,
ReplyDeleteYour tips, as usual, make good sense. Until May of this year I drove a Toyota Auris 1.6 petrol. Seemed a good choice returning just over 40 mph overall. Thing is it was perfectly functional doing everything expected of it but so bloody bland. So I determined to find something a little more fun but as cost effective. I first worked out what mpg would be required for a diesel engine to achieve to be as cost effective bearing in mind the higher cost of diesel. This then allowed me to chose between fuel types as well as types of car. After a long carefully considered search I finally fell in love with an Audi A3 2.0 tdi se 170 to give it its full title of similar age to the Auris. I negotiated a good deal from the Toyota dealer selling the Audi, 2000 pounds lass than the equivalent car from the Audi dealer. It costs me 49 pounds a year more to insure but with reasonable careful and smooth driving I save around 3 to 6 pence a mile depending on fuel costs and driving conditions. Yes its a little luxury I grant you but I'm always looking at ways of cutting driven miles.
I don't know if this applies in the UK but here in the US I just was able to reduce our auto insurance cost by switching one car to "leisure use" status now that I have retired but Hubby has not. Also, we each took an online driver safety course which gets us a further reduction and carries over for 3 years. It still is very expensive but we value each and every saving we can get.
ReplyDeleteMost of us frugalistas already know most of what you have written, but there are many folks out there who still need to hear it. Most probably do not understand that small savings--such as your strategies for fuel for their cars--really do add up. Be sure to tell them on the radio that it is easier to save $1 a thousand times than it is to save $1,000 once.
ReplyDeleteIf a way can be found to reduce car mileage, it should also be possible to reduce the cost of car insurance - the higher your annual mileage, the more you pay.
ReplyDeleteAARP members can take a course and save 15% on car insurance. Of course, this is for people over 55 (I think), but it is a savings for older people. If children have Drivers Ed in school, that is another discount. Plus, certain insurance carriers have discounts for some professions. I know some insurance companies give discounts for teachers and others. All this may be useless in England, but you could check it out before sharing.
ReplyDeleteHaving side airbags gives another discount. Keeping tires filled to the proper air amount makes tires last longer and tires last longer.
Practical Parsimony
Check the manual and make sure your tire pressures are correct. it can make the difference of more than 5 miles per gallon. there will be 2 maybe 3 suggested pressures.
ReplyDeleteIn the US some companies give an insurance discount if your teen is on the academic honor roll; mine got small discounts as girls, but for boys could be more significant. Also, watching speed can impact MPG.
ReplyDeleteWe've given up our car... it means I have had to drastically cut down on performing as some gigs are not easily accessible by public transport. I sometimes carshare with other acts, too.
ReplyDeleteOH commutes to work by bike. I could get the train, but I save £70 a month by leaving the house a bit earlier and getting the bus.
My bus copany is affiliated with MyIce card... so I figure I may as well save points up and in future I can then use them towards the cost of transport or other goods. I must say, they don't accumulate that quickly on that scheme...
I use a Network Railcard to save 1/3 off travel in the South East. I combine this with special offers, trainline.com for nectar points and Train Genius for ice points... I take the cheapest option first, then if there are points, it's a no-brainer.
I have yet to take the legendary Megabus anywhere... but I'm tempted to take up their advertised offer one day of £1 from Milton Keynes to Paris...
Hiya we have free bus passes in our family as my dh is a driver. I worked out if this perk to the job was cut it would cost me £50 a week just to get my children to school (a mile up hill walk otherwise with 2 sets of asthmatic lungs not good.) Dh puts about £20 petrol in car a month but it doesnt go very far these days once a week to aldi (big shop) and once a week to his friends house in town. I think all children who travel by bus to school should be given a free bus pass as it is a legal requirement that they have to go to school. x
ReplyDeleteCan I just share something that you may want to share with your readers at some point, our ignition key broke recently and to cut a long story short, the cheapest I got quoted for a replacement was £140, this was £140 I did not have, as the key does not work without the chip containing plastic end I had to think of a way to try and do this myself, a little squirt of no more nails to adhere the cracked pieces and then a coat of a magical compound called Sugru - self setting rubber has completely repaired my key, it took 24 hours for the glue to dry and a further 24 hours for the sugru to set completely but I have a fully functioning and rather attractive remodel of my key for the princely sum of £12 for the sugru ( my sugru had eight individual packs and I only used two , the no more nails I already had so in fact the repair actually cost £3.00) Hope this helps someone else xxx and by the way, have been a little stalker for a while, just wanted to say a big thankyou for all the fabulous ideas and money saving tips you share, you have single handedly reformed my shopping habits and I am now on a mission to be debt free and hopefully achieving our families ambition to relocate to your beautiful county before we are too old to enjoy it lol xxx
ReplyDeleteWe recently sold our second car to save on costs and it has really made a difference. Our son now attends a nursery which is a 10 minute walk from the house so the car only moves when it really has to. We spend about £110 a month on petrol, roughly 2 tanks but im hoping that this will reduce more now. DH now does most of the servicing and repairs himself too which helps.
ReplyDeleteThese are some great tips!
ReplyDelete